Things are Rollin'

Wow! What a whirlwind two, almost three, months it's been!  

I am now all settled in Bluffton, SC working as the Associate Area Director with Young Life.  It's been a wonderful first month and a half. I am just so humbled to be the one chosen to come here and share Christ's love with these kids and this community.  It's been overwhelming the amount of support and care this community has poured out to our ministry.  I am so blessed to be working alongside these incredible people.  I wanted to tell you a little bit about my life here and what all the Lord's been doing through Young Life already!

I am living half a mile from the school with a widow named Sandy. She manages local rental properties.  She and I have very different schedules and barely see each other, but have had significant conversations when we are actually together.  She's a wonderful lady and has been such a gift to live with her. 

 

Young Life has taken off and isn't slowing down!  I hit the ground running meeting with committee folks and local families my first few weeks trying to learn as much as possible about the area. Alongside meeting all these adults, I was meeting up and hanging out with as many kids as possible.  

Then a few weeks after being here, school started and we've been in the schools from then on! I work alongside my boss, Thomas our Area Director.  We make a good team meeting each other in our different strengths and teaming up to take on Hilton Head and Bluffton separately.   We have a wonderful team of new YL leaders joining us to love on kids from four different local schools.  We have many new to YL leaders, so we are working to train them as we go!  Also, our Bluffton leadership team is made up of teachers, plus me, which is great, because they are with kids all day every day and now just have a place to talk to kids about Jesus.  I feel so blessed to be part of this incredible team and community. 

First Football Game of the Year!!

Best team celebrating my 26th with me! 

Two of my girls took me out for my birthday!

It's been evident that God's prepared the soil and is ready to grow fruit here.   We kick started our year with a leadership weekend planning the semester together and vision casting with our committee.  

Then from it we went straight into Monday's first YL CLUB!!! What a blast! We had over 50 kids at our first club and I was excited to see around 10-15 kids from Bluffton come! It was incredible to see our leaders just jump right in and love kids.  

Fruit pass Chaos at 1st YL Club of the Year!!! 

Some of my Bluffton friends! 

I've been spending a good portion of my time with this group of sophomores I've met from the few girls that came to camp with me.  It's been fun to meet more and more of their friends.  Last week I had a breakthrough with one of the girls I've been trying to reach. She's hurting and really angry with God since her dad passed away a year or so ago and she's stayed away from me or anything YL since I've been here.  Example we go eat with kids at Moe's on Wednesdays and three weeks in a row she'd come with her friends and wouldn't sit with us because it was a YL hang out.  So I've just kept my respectful distance but keep pursuing her and the past two weeks she's started to open up.  I sat with her and her friends last week at the JV game and she actually smiled and talked to me.  Then this Monday she came to Young Life Club along with 25 plus students from Bluffton!!!! We had 75+ kids at YL Club last night!!! It blew me away! I am just surprised by what God's doing every day.  Today I went to our leader Ty's room to help in his ESOL class. I was able to communicate with these kids that our society and their teachers push aside as not worth it.  

YL Club #2!!! 

Please pray for me as I try to help them and get to know them. Please pray for Ty as he's fighting for kids that no one else is fighting for.   Please pray for our leadership team as we've had a few conflicts in scheduling and personal struggles that Satan's trying to pull us down with.  Please continue praying that we can get another male leader for Bluffton High School! We have boys coming that need a leader.  Please pray for my Sophomore friend that's hurting and angry with God.  Please pray for more open doors to get into the Latino community.  

Friday Night Lights at Bluffton High!! 

Welcome Home!!! What is Home?!

Welcome Home!

What is home?!  I don’t know anymore… 

I was born and raised in the same southern city my whole life.  I went away at 18 years old to SC for college, not much further away, and still a southern city with many of the same cultural and life style aspects.  Then I began traveling outside the US and started to feel at home in other parts of the world.  And now the past 3 years, I’ve lived in Costa Rica, a Central American country, very different from Southern US culture and life and that feels like home now. 

After leaving this new found home and being back in the States one week, I find myself questioning, “what is home? “ I came back to the same southern city I lived in for 18 years of life and I can jump right back into this life like the past 8 years never happened.  But then my heart and mind start shouting at me, “Who are you?!  This isn’t the same you any more.” I left my “home” a week ago and it ripped my heart out.  I told my teammates it almost feels like I’m breaking up with Costa Rica, because in a way I did.  I ended our 3 year love/hate relationship, even though, I know Costa Rica will always have part of my heart and I will be able to visit, the truth is it will never be the same as it has been the past few years.  This is tough truth to swallow, but I am moving forward and know that the Lord is calling me to a new “home.”

So for now I am living in my 18 year old “home” grieving leaving my new found latino “home” and waiting to move to my new southern living “home” in SC.  So how do you move forward?  What is home?  I’ve learned that home is in our hearts.  Home is in the Lord.  And that home goes wherever you are.  I have gained so much from the past 3 years in Costa Rica and will always carry the life lessons with me no matter where I am.  I can smile and enjoy the memories and be thankful for blessings Mi Vida Tica brought me.  I am not the same southern girl who got on that plane 3 years ago… That’s the hard part of being back, because to everyone here I still look the same, but I’m not the same.  The Lord’s opened my eyes and heart in ways I could never imagine. 

My heart aches and I have a huge lump in my throat as I write this, but I can’t help but rejoice and be thankful that it hurts to leave so bad.  The hurting is evidence of the goodness, faithfulness, and blessings that the Lord poured out on Young Life I-schools Costa Rica and me the past 3 years.  And I will gladly rejoice is that truth!!      

Here are a few snapshots of the goodness, faithfulness, and blessings….

Country Day School Sports Banquet- Celebrating End of the Year with my CC Team!! 

 End of Year CC Pool Party!! 

 Last meal with my Tica Family!! 

Goodbye Party with my Vida Joven/Young Life Fam!! 

God's Glorious Creation in the OSA!! 

Mom and Pat's last visit to move me home!! 

After pouring into my first kids the past 3 years, getting to see them graduate and now we get to leave “home” Costa Rica together to move on to new phases of life…

Now I rest in my home, the Lord, and fight to not forget all that He's done and taught me the past 3 years... and carry it with me to this next "home"